Noise Levels in Stephens County, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
44 dBA
Average noise across Stephens County
Quiet suburban street at night
367
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
7% of Stephens County residents
87 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Stephens County at 100-meter resolution, combining road, aviation, and rail sources. Green areas measure below 45 dBA. Orange and red exceed the EPA's 55 dBA outdoor threshold linked to long-term health effects. Use the layer toggles to view each source on its own or all together.
What the numbers sound like
- 30 dBAWhisper
- 40 dBASoft rainfall
- 45 dBAQuiet suburban street at night
- 50 dBAQuiet office
- 55 dBAEPA outdoor threshold: light traffic 100 ft away
- 60 dBANormal conversation an arm's length away
- 65 dBABusy restaurant
- 70 dBAHighway traffic 50 ft away
- 80 dBACity bus interior
Population Above the EPA Outdoor Threshold
The EPA's 55 dBA outdoor reference level is a common benchmark for residential noise exposure, especially for activity interference, annoyance, and long-term community noise concerns. About 367 Stephens County residents, or 6.8%, live above that level. By land area, 5.7% of Stephens County is above 55 dBA.
94.3% below 55 dBA
5.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Stephens County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Stephens County
Average noise levels for Stephens County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Stephens County. The highest population-weighted average is in central Stephens County; the lowest is in northeastern Stephens County, where just 2% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Central Stephens County
50.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Northern Stephens County
47.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Stephens County
45.0 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southwestern Stephens County
42.6 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northeastern Stephens County
38.6 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
To the human ear, noise in central Stephens County sounds about 125% louder than in northeastern Stephens County, a 11.7 dBA gap. Every 10 dBA roughly doubles perceived loudness. Within any of these directions, two homes a quarter mile apart can still differ by 10 or more dBA depending on how close they sit to a major highway.
How far back from do you need to be?
produces an estimated 87 dBA at its loudest centerline points. Noise drops logarithmically with distance, with the exact rate depending on what's between you and the road. Tree cover, walls, terrain, and pavement type all matter. At roughly a quarter mile back, traffic fades into the noise level of a quiet office.
At source
87 dBA
Lawnmower at 1 m
165 ft
72 dBA
City bus interior
330 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
660 ft
56 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
¼ mile
47 dBA
Quiet office
½ mile
39 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 2% of Stephens County sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most counties) and roughly 31% is impervious surface like pavement and rooftops. Both are folded into the per-place decay rate above. Heavier canopy pulls noise down faster with distance; impervious surfaces slow the drop.
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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Stephens County. For most blocks the rail-only contribution is small. Combined road-plus-rail noise rarely exceeds road noise on its own. The exceptions are the handful of blocks within roughly a quarter mile of the right-of-way during pass-through hours.
Use the Rail toggle on the map above to isolate rail's contribution from road and aviation.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Stephens County
The bar chart below shows the share of Stephens County residents in each noise band. About 94% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Stephens County Compares
Stephens County sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Stephens County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Eastland County, Young County, Jack County, and Shackelford County.
Average noise level (dBA)
Stephens County's 43.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Stephens County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 6.8% of Stephens County residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's in the middle of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 5.7% of Stephens County's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Stephens County
- Distance from highways matters more than the neighborhood name. Two homes in the same zip code can differ by 20 dBA if one sits 100 meters from and the other 500 meters away. The model captures this at 100-meter resolution, so noise exposure changes block by block.
- Tree canopy can help reduce modeled noise exposure. Roughly 2% of Stephens County is under tree cover (much lighter than most counties), and the dominant land cover is low-intensity developed land. Both are measured from federal USDA Forest Service and USGS satellite imagery at 30-meter resolution. Streets with 60% or higher canopy show 3 to 5 dBA lower noise than comparable streets with bare ground or pavement, which is why the per-place decay rate above already accounts for it.
